Can there be anything more annoying than seeing pests or insects in your home? Actually, there might be one thing that is a bit worse and that’s being unable to get rid of them once they have made themselves comfortable within your space.
In thinking of ways to get rid of them, the first thing that probably comes to mind is to hire an exterminator. That’s certainly a viable solution. However, it can also be costly. Plus, if you’re someone who is very eco-friendly, all of the fumes that come from the chemicals might be something that you’re not too excited about.
How to Get Rid of Pests and Insects in Your Home
Image via: Home Living
There are other ways to remove pests and insects from your house for good, though. Here are five of them.
Keep your place clean.
Yes, it should be an obvious tip, but it’s still one that should be mentioned. That’s because sometimes our schedules allot an amount of time to do some daily straightening up, but not necessarily any thorough cleaning. Over time, bugs pick up on that (no pun intended). So, make sure that you sweep, mop and vacuum at least a couple of times per week.
Close up any openings.
Pests can’t get in unless there’s a place for them to, right? It’s a good idea to check each room of your house once a season for any signs of holes, especially when it comes to window sills and doorways. If you happen to find some gapes, there is caulk for the walls, weather stripping for doors and screens for windows.
Watch the water.
If there’s one thing that a lot of us have in common with insects, it’s that we both love water. So, if there is leaking plumbing, residual water on the plates where we keep our plants or damp clothes or items that are lying around, these are all surefire ways to draw an insect’s attention. Remember, the dryer the home, the less insects you’ll see.
Image via Minimal Home Ideas
Use some honey or vinegar.
There are two things in your kitchen that are great for keeping flies and ants away. Let’s go with the flies first. You can always go to a store and purchase some pests strips. But, you can also make them yourself by boiling equal amounts of water, honey and sugar, letting the solution cool, cutting strips of brown packing tape, dipping them into the mixture and then letting them set for about 30 minutes. Once they’re done, just stick them to whatever surfaces flies seem to hang around the most. As for ants, a scent that they seem to absolutely loathe is apple cider vinegar. So, if you see some making a trail along your doorways, simply saturate a cloth in vinegar and wipe down the surfaces where the ants are. It not only kills the ones that are present, but keeps other ants at bay for months on end.
Try these things on mice.
If you happen to see a mouse, you probably don’t even want to think about the methods that can be applied to get rid of them; you simply want to call rove pest control and call it a day. However, there are some things that are mostly likely already in your house that can do the trick (and again, save you quite a bit of money). Peppermint, bay leaves, and hot pepper are all things that are excellent mice repellents. Trimming your shrubs and keeping boxes and newspapers down to a minimum (because they like to hide in those kinds of places) are great deterrents too. There are also ultrasonic pest control devices that you can purchase that they can hear, but we can’t. Target and Amazon are two places that carry them for a pretty reasonable price (less than $30).
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